1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, such as a liquid crystal device, to a device for manufacturing the same, and to an electronic apparatus, such as a liquid crystal projector, having an electro-optical device manufactured by the method of manufacturing an electro-optical device.
2. Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 6-186563 and 2003-129225, in an electro-optical device manufactured by such a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, an alignment control of an electro-optical material interposed between a pair of substrates is performed by an inorganic alignment film formed on a substrate surface of at least one substrate of the pair of substrates opposite to the electro-optical material. When the electro-optical device is manufactured, the inorganic alignment film is formed by an oblique deposition method.
According to a technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-186563, after electrodes or the like are formed on the substrate surface, an inorganic alignment film is formed by an oblique deposition method within the same manufacturing device. At this time, an angle formed by the substrate surface and a scattering direction or progressing direction of the inorganic material with respect to the substrate surface is fixed to two angles, and the inorganic alignment film is formed.
According to a technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-129225, when the inorganic alignment film is formed on the substrate surface using the oblique deposition method, the direction of the vapor flow of the inorganic material is controlled so as to make a deposition angle of the inorganic material to the substrate surface and a thickness of the inorganic alignment film uniform.
However, on a base surface of an inorganic alignment film provided on the substrate surface, a step is formed due to pixel electrodes or the like. In addition, when the inorganic alignment film is formed, a portion blocked by the step is generated on the base surface in a scattering direction of the inorganic material with respect to the substrate surface. As a result, it may be difficult for the inorganic materials to be attached to the portion or the inorganic materials may not be attached to the portion. Therefore, in the portion of the inorganic alignment film corresponding to the step of the base surface, a restraining force of the electro-optical material becomes weak, causing light to possibly leak, thereby deteriorating the quality of a display image in the electro-optical device.
In addition, when the film forming speed of the inorganic alignment film is reduced such that columnar structures made of inorganic materials are arranged at a predetermined angle with respect to the substrate surface, it becomes difficult to increase the thickness of the inorganic alignment film. Since the inorganic alignment film has small film density, when the film thickness is small, the electro-optical material or the like may come into contact with the pixel electrodes, which generates a short circuit.
Further, the inorganic alignment film is formed of an inorganic material which easily absorbs moisture, such as, for example, silica (SiO2). Therefore, when the thickness of the inorganic alignment film is small, the moisture absorbed into the inorganic alignment film is dispersed into the inorganic alignment film, causing the moisture to permeate into the pixel electrodes for forming the base of the inorganic alignment film or pixel switching elements for driving the pixel electrodes, thereby damaging the pixel electrodes or the like.
As a result, a yield in a process of manufacturing the electro-optical device decreases and it is difficult to increase a life span of the electro-optical device.